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A lot of the times, new business pop up and their owners are so excited about this new venture that they think they need to see quick growth on social media. This mindset may lead them to make some rash decisions such as buying followers or spending too much on ads. And it may look impressive to investors to have gained over 1,000 followers in under a month, but savvy investors know there's more to it than that. And the day-to-day consumer probably won't even pay attention.

Let's get this out of the way right at the front: Do not buy followers. No one knows for sure, but it's estimated that about 15% of social media accounts are bots. That's 15% of about 3 billion. So, if you had every bot on Twitter following you, it would bring your follower count up to about 450 million. Sounds impressive, right? It does right up until you realize that bots aren't buying your products or telling any real people about you. You could make the case that the high number of foll…

2015 is Almost Here and I Don't Have a Hover-Board

Well, it's getting closer and closer to 2015 and and we have a lot of catching up to do if we're going to make Steven Spielberg's vision come true. Which vision, you ask? That of Back to the Future, part 2.

What's missing?

Hover-conversion wheels

Dust repellent paper

Immersive holo-technology

Self-drying, size-adjusting jackets

Hover-boards (with or without power)

Sky-rocketed inflation (which, I guess, isn't such a bad thing. Although, prices have gone up since 1985)

On-the-scene, journalistic hover-cameras

Weather control

Viable bionic implants

What do we not necessarily want anymore?

Large-screen video phones. May have been a good idea at the time, but it hasn't really caught on. Maybe in business conferencing circles, but the average user doesn't really use video chat in average use, whether it's on the Internet or a phone device. I'm including in this the video goggles that Marty's daughter seemed to have.

Fax machines. Yes, this is a dying breed. BttF2 included a fax machine in every room of the McFly household. The sad truth is that the average person doesn't have a fax machine at all. If they do it's at their office, and if they happen to have one at home, they have only one.

Bi-Ties. I don't know their official names, but this is what I call them. The kind of tie that old Marty wore in the future. It had two knots and two tails coming down off the collar. I'm really not sure why they thought this looked good. Then again, it was the 80's.

Inside-out pants pockets. This fad never really caught on, I guess. Of course, who wants to look like they're broke?

What we're working on.

Video games that don't require hands. Yep. Believe it or not. It may not be a viable video game technology until about 2020, and even then don't expect Nintendo or Sony to jump on it right away. So it may be a little late, but it's a step in the right direction.

Self-sizing shoes. Heck yeah. Those cool shoes Marty wore in the future? Yeah, someone's working on that. McFly 2015 is a grassroots movement to get Nike to produce the same shoes that Marty wore in the movie for the general public. I know I signed the petition!

Mr. Fusion. Think I'm lying? Ok, so it likely won't be the size of a coffee machine any time soon, but, like the mental video games, it's a step in the right direction (thanks Anonymous commenter! This was added late, but it was too exciting to leave buried down in all those comments.)

Is there something I'm forgetting? Post a comment and let me know. personally, I'm just psyched about the shoes! Well, the thought controlled video games, too. That'd be awesome. Not to mention it would drop the Wii like a dead fly.

Remember! The future isn't written yet! It is what you make of it! Corney? Yes. But I like to think that with every bit of wisdom there is a pinch of corn.

EDIT: Arg. For some reason the Digg button isn't working for this post on the front page. So if you're looking at this post from the front page and wonder why there aren't any Diggs, well, that's why. Don't press the Digg button unless you want to submit the entire blog, which, generally, is a bad idea. In stead, first click the title of the post and then Digg it.

EDIT 2: This is real weird . . . the Digg button is now linking the information for the post above it, not this one. If anyone reading this has any clue why it would be doing this, please comment and let me know. I've checked the code in the template and it's exactly as it should be.

EDIT 3: Awesome! The Digg button works on the front page now. Thanks a lot, Otto!

The problem is that most American kids don't want to get into science & math. They want to breeze through school with an English, Art or Business major.That's why we have to get a lot of scientists & software programmers & engineers from out of the country.Blame your lazy generation.

hey - I won't have what was meant as a lighthearted post about one of my favorite movies turn into a poorly-argued attack on a generation. I'll leave your comment up because censorship without justification is annoying, but if you do come back to see if there was a response to your comment, know that I will delete any comments you make in defense to your first.

Now come on! Pick up the mood! Self-sizing shoes, everyone! Aren't you pumped?

I actually started earlier than BttF. The first movie I remember seeing in the theatre was 2001. I made my mother sit through 3 shows (back in the days when you could do that). From then on, I judged everything in reference to the year 2001 (ie when kids would talk about how old they'd be in the year 2000, I referenced 2001 without realizing there was the whole "which is the Millenium" confusion).

So, no hoverboard or self-sizing shoes, but STILL no orbiting Hilton, no regular passenger flights to and from orbit, no base on the moon, no serious plans to explore the rest of the solar system. DAMN!

I don't think we ever got up to jaws 12, or whatever number it was that was advertised with the giant holographic shark that almost ate Marty. Also, although I'm sure many companies are working on it, integrated voice-controlled whole-home automation systems probably aren't nearly as advanced as seen in the McFly home in the movie.

The reason your digg button is broken on the main page is this:digg_title = '2015 is Almost Here and I Don't Have a Hover-Board';

Notice the single quote in "Don't"? That breaks that line of javascript code, because you're using single quotes around it too and thus the script aborts at that point. So when the diggthis.js runs in the next script, the url and title remain unchanged from the post above, because the script code before it aborted early.

Change your digg code to use double quotes, or to run titles through quote-escaping code first.

What about the abolishment of all lawyers?! That's what I want to see. Or that the entire police force consists only of women (check the movie, no male police officers in the future). Bionic implants? Self-extending bats? Pepsi perfect?

Re: Mr. Fusion... the technology is definitely getting closer. Have a look at this (long link; you may have to copy & paste it back together if it line-wraps)...http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/873aae7bf86c0110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Doesn't sound like it'll be the size of a Mr. Coffee anytime soon though. :)

You guys do know that people have been tinkering with different forms off levitation on and off for awhile now, right? Not just the "Levitron" type magnetic levitation toys, or the maglev trains of Japan and Europe. Google "Ion Confinement Levitation" or similar. But don't get your hopes up about a hoverboard happening any time soon (at least not one that doesn't rely on fans to generate lift), the power requirments are substantial and the methods aren't very efficient. There's hope though, as long as at least some kids don't get dumbed down thinking that being an idiot is cool. Just in case anybody is interested, this site: http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News-More.asp?Offset=6 details what sort of science fiction things have come to pass in the "real world".

I thought that when he made BTTF 2 there really was a hoverboard. but they couldn't put them on the market because they were so dangerous, how the hell could you stop one of those things with virtually no friction. I think that they are still sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Or may be I imagined the whole thing...

You didn't imagine the whole thing. But the director did. This is from a comment on the Digg page:

"Robert Zemeckis, the film's director and special effects genius, became fed up with people asking him how the hover board sequences were done, and, according to Michael J. Fox, he began answering, "What do you mean, how did we do it? It's a real hover-board. It flies. Michael [J. Fox] just practiced a lot." His exasperation-fueled flippancy only served to heighten the rumor; now even the director was confirming it!

The hover board's failure to appear on toy store shelves was attributed to pressure brought to bear upon Mattel by parents' groups concerned for the safety of children, and once again Zemeckis was right there to stir the pot: "Hover boards have been around for years, but parents' groups worry that kids will get hurt, so they've pressured the toy companies not to put them on the market," he said. "We got our hands on some."

They did say Miami would win the World Series against the Cubs. Mind you, there is still no Miami in MLB but in 1993 the Florida Marlins started play in the NL, and they play in Miami. (In the same league as the Cubs, so they can't meet in the World Series)

The kids in 2015 didn't have their pockets turned out - they had their entire pants on inside out. Doc says that's the style but to make it easier on Marty he simply pulls his pockets out. Check out Marty Jr. and see that his pants are actually inside out.

hey this is the Rhino and this whole artical is neat ive never seen anything about b2f in forever besides futuristic sex robotz song back 2 the future again but the hands free game thing has kinda, and i mean kinda been done u can do it w/o hands but then u cant use a weapon lol its an interactive screen that enhances natural movement of ur body and allows a 5 year old to do mad high bruce lee kicks its more VR than thought powered but man its sweet and i appologize for spelling and the run on im a newb but thnx for the update on the future LAWLZ!!!!!

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